Oklahoma - 2nd Contract a 'Breeze'

To reach a first contract last year, the employees of the city of Enid needed 38 negotiating sessions over 15 months. This year? Three months.

Enid, Oklahoma

To reach a first contract last year, the employees of the city of Enid needed 38 negotiating sessions over 15 months. This year? Three months.

“This time, we didn’t have any opposition to the union,” says Joey Breeze, a maintenance technician in the city’s police department and president of Local 1136. “They’ve accepted that they’re going to have to deal with us.”

The new two-year contract, ratified overwhelmingly this summer, covers approximately 250 non-uniformed workers, including clerical, maintenance, sanitation, road and water employees.

The workers, most of whom earn less than $35,000 annually, won a 3 1/2 percent cost-of-living increase each year. They also get one-time cash performance bonuses, ranging from $250 to $1,250.

The contract also makes clear that verbal counseling will no longer be considered a disciplinary action. There is also a new process for arbitrating written disciplinary actions.

“It’s a good contract, especially for the economic times we’re in,” says Breeze. “We’re in good shape in Enid.”